The nuclear power can be a friend and an
enemy at the same time. Nuclear power can produce a lot of energy such as
producing electricity. Electricity is important source for our life spending,
because we mostly use our electric powers to keep the room brighten, watching
television, using a computer, and any other machines going in the house to stay
active. Nuclear power can also be an enemy, because it makes huge amounts of
radioactive waste, causing cancer, a brain tumor, etc. However does that mean
we have to stop the Nuclear completely or just reduce the use amount of Nuclear
power?
Nuclear Power can be dangerous, but
if we use them well, it can be really supportive to us. It’s similar as
controlling the fire like if we use it too much it’ll choke you and really hot,
but if we use it descent amount of fire it can be no harm and support us
instead such as cooking. I went to the website called dosomething.org and I
found out that 20% of America’s emission free power comes from nuclear power.
One in five households in the U.S is electrically powered by nuclear energy and
14% world electricity produced by nuclear energy. “Electricity generation emits more carbon dioxide in the
United States than does transportation or industry, and nuclear power is the
largest source of carbon-free electricity in the country. Nuclear power
generation is also relatively cheap, costing less than two cents per
kilowatt-hour for operations, maintenance, and fuel” (Foreignaffairs). This
source explains that nuclear energy helps electricity emitting less carbon
dioxide and cost less of electricity and use it same amount. In the website
called http://www.fi.edu/guide/wester/benefits.html said that “Nuclear
plants help regions meet air pollution standards. Air pollution compliance
regulations are actually being enforced against the total supply of
electricity, not just facilities that emit pollutants. Both emission caps and
permits under ambient air quality standards represent a predetermined level of
pollution rights available to a range of industrial activities, one of which is
electricity production. These restrictions remain fixed, even if the total
amount of electricity needed to satisfy demand in the affected regions of the
country rises. A state or region can more easily remain within its emission
limitations and still meet its energy needs when emission-free sources are used
to satisfy a portion of demand”. This means that nuclear energy can reduce the
cost of air pollution control because it is emission free sources. If we stop
the nuclear plant, we wouldn’t get much of the energy as we want. Nuclear power plants produce a large
amount of electricity in a relatively small space, they require significantly
less land for operation than all other energy sources.
The disadvantage of having Nuclear
Energy radioactive waste, nuclear accidents, nuclear radiation, impact on
aquatic life and major impact on human life. The radioactive waste needs to be
disposed off at a safe place since they are extremely dangerous and can leak
radiations if not stored properly. It emits radiations from tens to hundreds of
years. “The storage of radioactive waste has been major bottleneck for the
expansion of nuclear programs. From conserve-energy-future.com said that “The
nuclear wastes contain radio isotopes with long half-lives”. This means that
the radio isotopes stay in the atmosphere in some form or the other. These
reactive radicals make the sand or the water contaminated, also known as mixed
waste. While so many new technologies have been put in place to make sure the
nuclear accidents won’t happen again like Chernobyl or Fukushima, the risks
like that are still extremely high. Even small radiation leaks can cause
devastating effects. For example, the symptoms include nausea, vomiting,
diarrhea and fatigue. People who work near those areas are at high risk of
facing nuclear radiations, if it happens. The website, Conserve Energy Future
also said that “there are power reactors called breeders. They produce
plutonium. It’s an element which is not found in the nature however it is a
fissionable element. It is a by-product of the chain reaction and is very
harmful if introduced in the nature. It is primarily used to produce nuclear
weapons. Most likely, it is named as dirty bomb.” Basically, the plutonium can
destroy our nature. The radiation can impact on aquatic life, because of
Eutrophication. There are many seminars and conferences being held every year
to look for a specific solution. Reports say that radioactive wastes take
almost 10,000 years to get back to the original form. We also know that the
nuclear bombs were dropped over Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II.
Even after five decades of the mishap, children are born with defects, because
of the nuclear effect.
I recommend that we should stop the
nuclear plant. We already have enough torturing natures such as carbon dioxide,
destroying rainforest to make papers and building house, and burning fuels and
coals. If we continue, we’ll end up destroying our planet soon.
